1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a diagnosis apparatus in which laser beams are applied to a living body, and a plane scanning is effected in a direction parallel to the axis of the living body and also in a direction perpendicular to this axis, and the laser beams passed through the living body are received by a light-receiving detection plate, and an image representative of the condition of the living body is displayed.
This invention also relates to a laser treatment apparatus in which laser beams are applied to a living body, and a plane scanning is effected in a direction parallel to the axis of the living body and also in a direction perpendicular to this axis, and the position and light amount of the laser beams passed through the living body are detected, and in accordance with these detected values, the laser beams of an intensity appropriate for the condition of the living body are applied to the living body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Images through a living body have heretofore been obtained mainly by x-ray fluoroscopy. In an x-ray fluoroscopy photographic diagnosis, an image of an affected part of a living body near to a film surface is clearly displayed on a scale close to the actual dimensions, but as the affected part is away from the film surface, the displayed image becomes increasingly unclear on a scale larger than the actual dimensions.
Generally, in a malignant tumor or the like, the boundary between the peripheral edge of such an affected part and the surrounding normal tissues is clear, and the affected part has an irregular contour, and has irregular projections and recesses at its peripheral edge. The density of the cells within the tumor is higher than that of normal tissues, and besides the nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio is higher. Therefore, generally, the degree of penetration through the tumor is lower than that of normal tissues, and besides the interior of the tumor tends to assume an uneven-pattern image. Generally, in the x-ray photography, the contour portion and interior of the affected part of the living body are made unclear by scattering components of the X-rays outside and inside the affected part, and in many cases the existence of the affected part is not detected until after the unevenness of the shade within the tumor becomes conspicuous. Particularly in soft internal organs, the difference in x-ray transmission rate between a tumor (affected part) and normal tissues is small, and it has been difficult to detect the tumor from the difference of the shadow before the tumor becomes considerably large and hard.
An x-ray fluoroscopic photography using a contrast medium is well known as a basic examination method for making an imaging diagnosis of an internal organ such as the stomach and the intestines. In this case, it is common to use one x-ray tube, and there is not a method in which fluoroscopic photographs of a living body are taken substantially simultaneously in different directions by the use of a plurality of x-ray tubes. Therefore, in order to obtain fluoroscopic images viewed in two directions, that is, from the front and the side of the internal organ, it is necessary to photograph the internal organ twice, changing the position of the body. At this time, the internal organs as well as the affected part are deformed in accordance with the change of the posture, and therefore this does not mean that the front image and side image thus photographed show the internal organ, as well as the affected part, in the same condition. Moreover, it is troublesome and time-consuming for an aged person and a physically-handicapped person to change the posture, and a longer time is required for photographic diagnosis.
Furthermore, since x-rays radiate in a conical configuration from one small tube, the exposed dose of the x-rays is not uniform over an entire area of a film surface, and therefore this is not suited for digital image processing although an analog image can be obtained easily. In addition to such uneven exposure, x-rays are affected by scattering components from other parts in the living body, and therefore an obtained image of the soft internal organs other than the bones becomes unclear, so that an imaging diagnosis could not be effected using such an unclear image. Namely, it has been almost impossible to effect a pseudo color image analysis and various image processing such as differential, integral, subtract and others diagnosis by the use of a fine gray image obtained by digitized data.
On the other hand, when a colon endoscope is to be inserted into the complicatedly-bent colon or when a catheter is to be inserted into a deep part of the body, it is necessary to effect an x-ray fluoroscopy to confirm the inserted condition. However, there is a risk that the patient to be examined, a doctor and an assistant participating in the examination are exposed to x-radiation, and therefore from a safety point of view, the x-ray fluoroscopy can not be carried out continuously, and generally the short-time x-ray fluoroscopy is repeated in the existing circumstances. Therefore, when inserting the endoscope or the catheter into a deep part, there are encountered a technical difficulty and a problem that the patient under examination suffers from a pain. Furthermore, in order to protect against radiation, a protective wall is provided, and a protector is put on the operator, and this increases the cost.
In the x-ray photographing of the luminal organs, such as the stomach and the intestines, and the blood vessels, a contrast medium is used. The contrast medium need to be of a nature hardly transmitting x-rays, and therefore it is limited to iodine and barium of high atomic number. An iodine contrast medium is injected into the luminal organ or the vascular organ, and is perfused, and x-ray fluoroscopy is carried out, and thereafter the iodine contrast medium tends to be absorbed into the body by diffusion. Although this has advantages, there is a risk that those patients who are hypersensitive to iodine suffer from a shock. Barium, which can not easily be absorbed biochemically and is liable to adhere to the wall of the digestive tract, has been frequently used as a contrast medium. However, barium can not be easily drunk, and can not easily be discharged out of the body, and in the case of obstinate constipation, there is often the risk of obstipation. Namely, the materials of the contrast medium which hardly transmit x-rays are limited, and besides the various problems remain unsolved, and because of the nature of the contrast medium, the nature of the image obtained by x-ray fluoroscopy has been limited to x-ray transmitting characteristics.
As a diagnosis method using other light than x-rays, there has been proposed a method of obtaining a penetration image using a laser beam. However, because of a transmission problem, this method has not yet been put into practical use for the penetration of the trunk portions where the flesh is thick and the bones exist. And besides, the laser beam has heretofore been radiated in a conical configuration from a rotating single laser beam source, and therefore this method suffers from some problems common to x-ray fluoroscopic photography.